Politics and the English Language by George Orwell - Essay Example

POLITICS AND THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE By GEORGE ORWELL al affiliation Introduction: “Politics and the English Language,” is a beautiful piece of writing by George Orwell which was published in 1948. This essay explains the beauty and simplicity of the English language which has been ruined by different groups such as media and politics. Orwell discusses the facts that how this language has been used by media and different politicians to fulfill their mean aims and how media has used this language as a tool for creating sensation in the minds of people. Orwell has also critically analyzed few of the great authors of his times. In short, this essay provides a complete insight on how English has been manipulated by different groups all around the world and how we can contribute in preserving the real essence and purity of this language. Critical Analysis: The language of politics is a universal language which holds its own meanings. George Orwell has describes the same concept in his essay known as “Politics and the English Language” which was published in 1948. This essay revolves around the basic concept that how political language can manipulate the facts and can be untruthful in explaining the information to the public. Orwell states that one can be easily misled by the use of words that can play be with the minds very cleverly. However, we cannot deny the fact that in today’s world language can be used as a weapon against anything, it can change, mislead and has the ability to bring about massive changes in the world. From the beginning of his essay, Orwell has emphasized on one basic point that all the civilizations existed in the world were immoral and corrupt, and hence we can also say that the languages used by those civilizations were also corrupt and immoral in their true meanings. Orwell further discusses that language can play a vital role in establishing the roots of the society however; languages can also play a significantly important role in the destruction of the society. It is the language that can fabricate the truth. I agree with the point that Orwell has mentioned in his essay that political and economical causes can negatively affect the language. It is important to understand that this essay was written in 1946; the time when World War II was ended therefore, we can say that this essay was written in this background when all the society evils were gaining strength. This essay best reflects the history and the background of those times when the entire world was faced with the major setback. Through out the essay, Orwell has used strong words and expressions for describing the present state of English language by many modern yet “so-called” writers. Orwell believed the very fact that “Simplicity is the Soul of English Language,” however he has clearly mentioned that world’s adoption to the new Modern English has been the major reason of destroying the simple pure soul of the English Language. Orwell has used a strong analogy for expressing his thought is a more vivid manner. I agree with Orwell that much damaged has been caused to the real essence of English language in recent years. This is a fine piece of literature that highlights the basic need of preserving the true essence of English by Orwell. In his essay, Orwell has stressed a various times on this fact that English should be preserved and every possible effort should be made in this regard. To prove his statement, Orwell has given the different written examples by some famous and well known writers and even among all those famous writers; the presence of Karl Marx is also worth mentioning. Orwell has mentioned that how these famous people have made some of the very obvious mistakes in their writings. The first example as highlighted by Orwell is a masterpiece written by Professor Harold Laski. Orwell has described his piece of writing as an erroneous one as Orwell thinks that the material it contains can confuse the reader. Orwell has highlighted some more mistakes in the second example which by Professor Lancelot Hogben. Orwell has mentioned the mistakes did by the writer in a humorous way; explaining that the writer has misused the word “egregious” in a very odd manner. Third example is from the psychology essay according to Orwell it is a meaningless piece of writing which has no significance. Fourth example is from Karl Marx, and Orwell has well criticized Karl Marx for using some of the invalid and stale phrases in his essay. Orwell has criticized the fifth and the last example which is from Tribune for using the high vocabulary that has made the entire article meaningless and difficult for an average reader to understand. It is important to understand that English is the only language which has the largest vocabulary (Chrystal, 1998). However, I agree with Orwell’s criticism on the use of English Language in these articles but I do not agree with his criticism on Karl Marx’s Communist Pamphlet. Orwell has positively criticized four basic vices in his essay. These four vices are clichés or the dying metaphors, meaningless words, operators and overuse of some foreign words and phrases. I agree with Orwell’s stance against these four vices as they have ruined the purity and simplicity of the English Language; making it more complicated and complex for the reader to understand the exact meaning of what it has been explained. Analyzing critically the use of dying metaphors, I agree with Orwell that these metaphors have exploited the essence of English Language. They represents the writer’s inability of producing creativity in his writings thus, making it look more complicated and difficult for the average reader. Orwell has highlighted the use of meaningless words as being used in a meaningless way to describe events and facts in the most inappropriate manner. According to him, a writer should avoid using difficult and lengthy words in his writings. A writer’s first preference should be the use of possible shortest and yet the simplest word. Orwell has mentioned this very fact in his essay that these meaningless words have been used by government and different officials in misguiding and misleading the public. In politics these words have played an important role in exploiting and manipulating the facts. Here I do agree with this point as mentioned by Orwell that meaningless words can effectively create hype and propaganda. Media has used meaningless words as their ultimate tool to disseminate false information, creating scandals and propagating facts in the most untruthful manner. American government is a true example for using these words blatantly. The most exploited word in the modern world of today is “democracy” which is used vaguely by different governments and media around the world. However, we have lost the true understanding of the word “democracy” from our politics. Politics have misused the effectiveness of the words in English Language. We have lost the significance and effectiveness of words and their appropriate use from our politics, literature and everyday life. In the third phase Orwell has discussed the use of operators in the language. Operators are comprised of phrases that contain fewer words which are used to replace those ones with many words in a sentence. Like Orwell, I prefer using operators as they add value and meaning to the writings. In my opinion, a writer can always use these operators effectively to enhance and improve the quality of its writing. Finally, according to Orwell use of jargons and foreign words can ruin the essence and purity of the language as well as they can confuse a reader. Here I would like to highlight the example of Karl Marx’s Communist Pamphlet which was criticized earlier by Orwell. I disagree with Orwell here because sometimes a writer can avoid using jargons or the foreign words in their writings however, sometimes it becomes extremely important for the writer to use such words in their sentences. Therefore, I can say that Orwell has unjustly criticized Karl Marx. Orwell has also given some tips and writing guidance to the writers. In his essay, he has explained that by following some of the essential rules of writing different yet obvious mistakes can be avoided. Furthermore, Orwell has mentioned that this technique would enable the writers to use proper English. Orwell has criticized that different writing styles adopted by the modern writers of today. He thinks that space for improvement is always there through which one can benefit himself and can avoid blatant mistakes from his writings. Orwell has sarcastically pointed out that how in politics such adoption of writing style has helped the writers to mislead the public. In politics, parties prefer to use such phrases that can mislead the general public and which can easily manipulate the facts and other information from them. However, we cannot ignore this fact as mentioned by him because these days language and the use of inappropriate language has become a norm for the different parties to use it as their marketing tool for the promotion of their motives and party lines. Politics has caused much harm to the soul and purity of this language. English which was once known to the people as a language of romantics has transformed into the language of war and hatred by its misuse (Bryson, 1990). This essay was written by Orwell in early 1948, right after the period of World War II therefore much of the work as highlighted by Orwell represents the political scenario and history of that period. He mentions that in that period, political language was much in use by the leaders of that time. In his essay he has clearly explained that how the governments in his time had used political language as a medium for misleading people by their manipulated information to gain their influence over the public and to deceive them in a much organized manner. In addition, Orwell has also mentioned that we can term this action as “an inflated style” adopted by the governments all around the world to deceive people in a very fashioned way. He further adds that words can do wonders of they are used properly but in politics these words are used by the leaders and the politicians to fulfill their means and motives; they are used to play with the innocent minds of the public. In other words we can say that political language as raised the tradition of fooling people in a very ethical manner. Different politicians have used inflated style in their politician language mainly to manipulate information and to provide fabricated facts to the public. Similarly, the same style has been adopted by the modern media of today. In modern world of today, media has used words in order to create propaganda and hype in the world. For example, few years ago media blatantly used different sensational words to create sensation in the minds of general public regarding biological war which was enough to create a buzz in the world. It was not only disastrous but it also caused stressed among people which helped the media to gain the attention as much as they wanted in those time by using different ridiculous words and phrases in their propaganda programs. I condemn the use of such a beautiful language in such a ruthless manner. In politics, English language has gained its importance as medium for creating sensation among the public, for misleading them, fabricating the truth in a very modern manner and it has also helped the politicians to use words the way they want for fulfilling their hidden motives and means all around the world. However, I firmly believe that English language should be use ethically by both the media and the politicians to avoid creating buzz and sensation in the minds of people. Near to me, the purity of this language should not be disgraced to fulfill mean purposes by anyone. ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN BUSINESS CONTEXT: English has become a primary universal language all around the world. Companies have used this mode of language as a tool to promote their products and services all around the globe fulfill their corporate aims. However, we cannot deny the fact that English is the only language which is widely understood by everyone. I agree to this point that English language should be used as a medium of promoting products and services internationally however I condemn the use of this language in a negative way that can manipulate the reality or that can mislead the public. We have an example of L’Oreal; a French beauty company which uses its tagline as to enhance self-esteem in women by saying “Because you worth it!” this has made positive impact on all the women thus making them realize that every woman is beautiful and every woman owns the right to look beautiful. The proper English has become the need of everyone in modern world (Bryson, 1990). Businesses use English as a medium to effectively promote their products and services at international level to meet the international standards and to target more customers for their product or services. Philips (an electronic appliances manufacturing company) is yet another example for using English language in the positive manner. They make believe that “Lets make Life better” by using their appliances which can help the people to facilitate themselves in a technological manner. Conclusion: In the end, I would say that English language if used in a proper manner can produce significant positive changes all around the world. This would enable people to live and dream for a better future in a world where words would not be used to fabricate the facts and where their rights would not be manipulated by the politicians on the name of democracy. List of References: Orwell, G. 1948, “Politics and the English Language” accessed on 4th December 2011 Chrystal, D. 1998, “English as a Global Language,” Cambridge University Press. Bryson, Bill. 1990, “The Mother Tongue: English and How It Got That Way.” New York: Avon. Read More